It's been a full decade since I last participated in LJ Idol. I found myself reading the sign-up comments to see if I recognized any of the handles from past competitions.

I wasn't sure when or if I'd ever be back, but here we are now and here we go once more!

“Here, take this,” I said, reaching out to pass the lit joint to Dave. He took it from me as I exhaled and watched the smoke billow up in front of my face. Dave nodded and smiled at me approvingly when he saw how much smoke there was, telling both of us how big of a hit I had taken. We both knew that I was still kind of a noob at this whole smoking ( Read more... )

I rolled my eyes at the newsstand’s shopkeeper after he commented on the magazine that I had picked up. It was the latest cover of Vibe, and on its cover was a bare-chested rapper whose stage name is Dre Lover.

“Dre Lover,” the shopkeeper said with disgust in his voice. “My daughter listens to his trash, and I can’t stand it.”

I know that he was ( Read more... )

Teresa, startled, dropped the metal spoon she had been washing into the sink. It made a loud clatter with the other dishes as her roommate Jessica continued to guffaw, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Holy shit, Jess, you scared me! What is so funny over there?” Teresa threw her sponge into the sink and turned around to face Jessica.

“Ooh, sorry, I didn’t ( Read more... )

The sun was beginning to rise as Reyna slowed down to a stop from her morning run. She lifted her leg to rest her ankle on the top of a park bench, and leaned over and began to stretch, feeling the relief in her muscles. She stayed in that position for a full thirty seconds, and straightened up to find a man next to her. He looked to be finishing ( Read more... )

in preparation of lji (and possibly nano)... and because sometimes i guess i have to do these things myself =P

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Mara’s first thought upon arriving at the bright yellow house was that it wasn’t a complete dump like she originally expected. The house was large -- not quite mansion-sized, but comfortably spacious. However, she was also well aware ( Read more... )

 It’s just one of those days

The clock read 7:27 as Paulina slammed on the snooze button for the fourth time that morning. She turned over to face the other side of her bed without looking at the clock and welcomed the nine extra minutes of sleep, even if they would only feel like nine seconds.

The alarm clock buzzed again, and this time, Paulina ( Read more... )

Knock, knock.

“Come in,” I called, staring at my computer screen. My roommate, Tanya, walked in and handed me a piece of paper. It had a local address scrawled across it.

“Greg, can you take me here tomorrow at two o’clock?” Tanya asked, voice shaky.

“Uh, sure,” I stammered. I was confused -- she had a car and could take herself. “Why? What’s going on ( Read more... )

 Although he wouldn’t admit it out loud, it was a much quieter night at the emergency room than he had originally expected it to be. In years past, Dr. Calvin Frederiks had seen a multitude of drunk drivers and burn victims enter the doors of the hospital on New Years’ Eve. Some made it through the night and got to go home in the morning after ( Read more... )

 I need a new outfit for a party. Audrey needs a new computer. Paulina needs clothes for her new job. The boys, Ron and Donnie, are talking about wanting new cameras, cell phones, and cars. They may be able to get the first two today, but I’m not sure about the new car part -- to my knowledge, there is no car dealership in or around this mall.

On ( Read more... )